I think the root of your mistake is saying that macros don't scale to
larger groups. The real truth is that macros don't scale to stupider
groups.
-- Paul Graham, on the Lightweight Languages mailing list.
To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is
half empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to
be.
-- author unknown (quoted in `Robust Systems', Gerald Jay Suseman)
We now come to the decisive step of mathematical abstraction: we forget
about what the symbols stand for. ...[The mathematician] need not be
idle; there are many operations which he may carry out with these
symbols, without ever having to look at the things they stand for.
-- Hermann Weyl, The Mathematical Way of Thinking
[How friendly will this machine be?] Well, I don’t think it’s a matter
of friendliness, because ultimately if the program is going to
accomplish anything of value, it will probably be relatively complex.
-- Gary Kildall (inventor of CP/M, one of the first OS for the micro).
I was talking recently to a friend who teaches at MIT. His field is hot
now and every year he is inundated by applications from would-be
graduate students. "A lot of them seem smart," he said. "What I can't
tell is whether they have any kind of taste."
-- Paul Graham
It’s a problem if the design doesn’t let you add features at a later
date. If you have to redo a program, the hours you spend can cause you
to lose your competitive edge. A flexible program demonstrates the
difference between a good designer and someone who is just getting a
piece of code out.
-- Gary Kildall (inventor of CP/M, one of the first OS for the micro).
That is one of the most distinctive differences between school and the
real world: there is no reward for putting in a good effort. In fact,
the whole concept of a "good effort" is a fake idea adults invented to
encourage kids. It is not found in nature.
-- Paul Graham
Programmers are in a race with the Universe to create bigger and better
idiot-proof programs, while the Universe is trying to create bigger and
better idiots. So far the Universe is winning.
-- Rich Cook
What Paul does, and does very well, is to take ideas and concepts that
are beautiful in the abstract, and brings them down to a real world
level. That's a rare talent to find in writing these days.
-- Jeff "hemos" Bates, Director, OSDN; Co-evolver, Slashdot
A great lathe operator commands several times the wage of an average
lathe operator, but a great writer of software code is worth 10,000
times the price of an average software writer.
-- Bill Gates
We fail to realize that mastery is not about perfection. It's about a process,
a journey. The master is the one who stays on the path day after day, year after
year. The master is the one who is willing to try, and fail, and try again, for
as long as he or she lives.
-- George Leonard, Mastery.
While I’ve always appreciated beautiful code, I share Jonathan’s concern
about studying it too much. I think studying beauty in music and
painting has led us to modern classical music and painting that the
majority of us just don’t get. Beauty can be seen when it emerges, but
isn’t something to strive for in isolation of a larger context. In the
software world, the larger context would be the utility of the software
to the end user.
-- [A comment on a blog]
There really is no learning without doing.
-- Roger Schank, Engines for Education
If we wish to count lines of code, we should not regard them as lines
produced but as lines spent.
-- Edsger Dijkstra
However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the
results.
-- Winston Churchill
It is impossible to sharpen a pencil with a blunt axe. It is equally
vain to try to do it with ten blunt axes instead.
-- Edsger Dijkstra
I think the root of your mistake is saying that macros don't scale to
larger groups. The real truth is that macros don't scale to stupider
groups.
-- Paul Graham, on the Lightweight Languages mailing list.
To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is
half empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to
be.
-- author unknown (quoted in `Robust Systems', Gerald Jay Suseman)
We now come to the decisive step of mathematical abstraction: we forget
about what the symbols stand for. ...[The mathematician] need not be
idle; there are many operations which he may carry out with these
symbols, without ever having to look at the things they stand for.
-- Hermann Weyl, The Mathematical Way of Thinking
The Work Begins Anew, The Hope Rises Again, And The Dream Lives On.
-- Ted Kennedy
Ne te mets pas de limite, la vie se chargera de la mettre a ta place.
-- Darryl AMEDON
[How friendly will this machine be?] Well, I don’t think it’s a matter
of friendliness, because ultimately if the program is going to
accomplish anything of value, it will probably be relatively complex.
-- Gary Kildall (inventor of CP/M, one of the first OS for the micro).
Simplicity means the achievement of maximum effect with minimum means.
-- Dr. Koichi Kawana
I think there’s a world market for about 5 computers.
-- Thomas J. Watson, Chairman of the Board, IBM, circa 1948
The important thing is not to stop questioning.
-- Albert Einstein
Any sufficiently advanced technology is undistinguishable from magic.
-- Arthur C. Clarke
The choice of the university is mostly important for the piece of paper
you get at the end. The education you get depends on you.
-- Andreas Zwinkau
I was talking recently to a friend who teaches at MIT. His field is hot
now and every year he is inundated by applications from would-be
graduate students. "A lot of them seem smart," he said. "What I can't
tell is whether they have any kind of taste."
-- Paul Graham
If there is a will, there is a way.
-- unknown
If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming
high enough.
-- Alan Kay
It’s a problem if the design doesn’t let you add features at a later
date. If you have to redo a program, the hours you spend can cause you
to lose your competitive edge. A flexible program demonstrates the
difference between a good designer and someone who is just getting a
piece of code out.
-- Gary Kildall (inventor of CP/M, one of the first OS for the micro).
Bonne bosse et reste le boss.
-- Darryl Amedon
For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing
them.
-- Aristotle.
PI seconds is a nanocentury.
-- [fact]
Ne te mets pas de limite, la vie se chargera de la mettre a ta place.
-- Darryl AMEDON
That is one of the most distinctive differences between school and the
real world: there is no reward for putting in a good effort. In fact,
the whole concept of a "good effort" is a fake idea adults invented to
encourage kids. It is not found in nature.
-- Paul Graham
Measuring programming progress by lines of code is like measuring
aircraft building progress by weight.
-- Bill Gates
If there is a will, there is a way.
-- unknown
Programmers are in a race with the Universe to create bigger and better
idiot-proof programs, while the Universe is trying to create bigger and
better idiots. So far the Universe is winning.
-- Rich Cook
What Paul does, and does very well, is to take ideas and concepts that
are beautiful in the abstract, and brings them down to a real world
level. That's a rare talent to find in writing these days.
-- Jeff "hemos" Bates, Director, OSDN; Co-evolver, Slashdot
Don't have good ideas if you aren't willing to be responsible for them.
-- Alan Perlis
A great lathe operator commands several times the wage of an average
lathe operator, but a great writer of software code is worth 10,000
times the price of an average software writer.
-- Bill Gates
We fail to realize that mastery is not about perfection. It's about a process,
a journey. The master is the one who stays on the path day after day, year after
year. The master is the one who is willing to try, and fail, and try again, for
as long as he or she lives.
-- George Leonard, Mastery.
While I’ve always appreciated beautiful code, I share Jonathan’s concern
about studying it too much. I think studying beauty in music and
painting has led us to modern classical music and painting that the
majority of us just don’t get. Beauty can be seen when it emerges, but
isn’t something to strive for in isolation of a larger context. In the
software world, the larger context would be the utility of the software
to the end user.
-- [A comment on a blog]